Owen's eyes

These big eyes.  

It's hard to resist snuggling such a sweet, round face.  

So I don't.  

The indoor snowman

It snowed while we were in PA a week ago.  Just a dusting but it was enough that Owen was begging to build a snowman.  

My dad scooped up a few balls of snow and he and Owen built this little man in the kitchen.  He has asparagus arms, a sliver carrot nose and cloves for eyes.  

I love this picture of their hands, tiny and big, working together to build their snow(ball)man.

Taylor visits

Taylor is here for a visit!  The kids are over the moon excited - especially Owen.  

So far we've been pretty low-key (read: boring) but we did make it into the city for cupcakes and Johnny Rockets (Taylor's only requests).

First the food:

Then we tried out Baked and Wired for cupcakes.

The plan was to do a comprehensive taste-test of the three cupcake shops in Georgetown...but after our first stop we were way to stuffed to look at any more food.  But the B&W verdict is:  tasty...but too big and a little too crumbly-cakey.  

A few crumbly cupcakes didn't stop us from having fun with our Tay though.

Plus...we got plenty of baby eyelashes peaking from under her hat.  That made the night a solid 10 for sure.

Fuzzy

how I love this little fuzzy head.  

3: One last birthday post

Following the homemade theme for Owen's birthday...

He and I made these invitations for the little party we held with friends.  It was more the thought-that-counts in the end, though...most of these were mailed only a few days before the party so we ended up pre-inviting a few friends in person.  Still...what little kid doesn't love getting real mail...addressed to them...for a party!

One of Owen's favorite activities is watercoloring.  He filled up an extra big sheet of thick paper with some beautiful bold colors and then helped me punch out holes all over the sheet.  I cut the tip off of the holes to make each look like a rounded pendent and glued them on some leftover cardstock (I had stored since our wedding!) which had the message printed on.

I wrote a little note to each boy (or grandparent) on the back to let them know how excited we all were to have them come to the party.

The plan was to send one to each grandparent...even if distance made attending impossible...but we ran out of time.  Maybe posting some pictures a few weeks late can be the next best thing?  

3: The Blobbies

Since I was planning on having just a small celebration for Owen's birthday (which, in hindsight is a little funny) I wanted to make it special for him by putting some real effort into just a few little details as another way of expressing how very much I love him (even if he doesn't notice).  I saw this idea on Pinterest back in the fall and thought they were a great idea for a party favor.  We could play games with them at the party and then each kid could adopt one to take home at the end.

Of course I had no idea how to knit a ball - let alone knit a straight line.

Thankfully I came across this tutorial showing how to crochet a ball for Christmas ornaments.   I dived in and...started making these in December.  For February.  Aaaand I got 5 done in time for the party.

Even though they didn't end up looking anything like the tutorial (no...I was not intentionally going for any shape other than round) I'm rather fond of them.  Everly stole the little yellow one - which made me kind of happy.  I think it's my favorite.  A warm sunny lemon drop...just like her.  :)

3: The Cake

The request for the 'official' cupcakes was chocolate with chocolate icing.  I used this Hershey's recipe - which I always do.  And it was delicious - as it always is.  

He also requested pizza, green beans and orange slices...but that didn't exactly happen.  At least not all at the same meal.

The three candles took a little effort to blow out.  They're supposed to be sparklers - but seemed to act more like trick candles this time.   It was definitely worth a celebration when they were finally out.

While I planned on something a little more low-key, Owen's third birthday got him quite a bit of attention.  Aunt Leslie was here for the actual day (and the pre-birthday Georgetown cupcake testing), he had a special phone call from Nana while out touring DC on the 1st, a small party with friends and grandparents on the weekend after, and another party with his cousins in PA the following weekend.  

Thankfully he is one level-headed little boy.  I'm not too worried that he'll expect the same royal treatment next year - although he's definitely worth a little celebrating in my opinion!  

Happy Birthday Owen!

Three today, my wonderful Owen.  I wish I could go back and have a little chat with myself in those first few days after you were born.  I remember that first week...I would cry and cry while I held your little baby body all snuggled up to me...wishing that I could keep you that tiny and precious.  Wishing that I could stretch the day out longer or that I could freeze time.  

If I could go back I'd wipe those tears away and pat my arm and say, 

"He is a darling sweet baby, isn't he?  It is so nice to have him all warm and safe, curled up against your chest, I know.  But don't worry one bit.  You will never believe the joy that watching him grow can bring.  The exponential growth of happiness that will occur as he learns new things, as he communicates his thoughts to you, as you see him figure out his world and learn to be his own little person.  The immensity of your feelings will drown out any small sorrow that occurs as he graduates from stage to stage.   You'll look back and be grateful for this baby time.  So very grateful.  But the present is too sweet for any bitter to creep in.  So...snuggle this little bundle in peace and don't fret about time passing.  Once these hormone levels even out, life will look much clearer and you'll start to see the beauty of growing up."

Life with you, Owen, is a gift.   I am very grateful that our God, who planned your life before time began, who defined you and set your heart and your path, gave us the job of stewarding your early years.  

Keep on growing and growing and running and stretching and trying and talking and loving and sharing and learning and singing and jumping and making messes and cleaning up and being you.  

Because I love you.